SOS Surge Tank
08-08-2014, 12:01 PM
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SOS Surge Tank
Went to Buttonwillow on July 26th and 27th to participate in a Speed Ventures track weekend as well as compete in the J’s Racing S2000 Challenge. This was the third time I've had my new build out on track and the first time I've signed up to compete with it. Had an absolute blast and the car has never been better. Took 2nd place in class in the challenge and set one of the lowest laptimes for the day. All this on 218whp/153wtq. Whooo hoo!
Worked with Science of Speed to address a couple of soft spots on the car right before we left. I had had a fuel starvation issue on my first day of testing at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. About 2/3s of the way through the bowl my engine sputtered to a halt. It was freaky and unexpected. I hated it. Once back on flat ground it fired back up and ran as anticipated, but it surly identified a problem that needed addressing.
Spoke with Chris over at SOS and he identified that their (much nicer) S2000s had also experienced fuel starvation. But they had a fix; an inline fuel swirl pot complete with internal pump. Sounded good, swung by the shop to take a look at the piece – what a beauty. I bought it straight away and had them install it. Worked like a charm and I've had no hiccups since. Nice piece at a reasonable price and it provided an extra level of security for those high G moments. I’d recommend it to anyone tracking an S2000; especially with oversized sticky tires.
As long as the car was in the shop I also had SOS help source and install a couple of adjustable upper ball joints. I couldn't dial out enough negative camber in the rear due to ride height and some suspension changes we had made. Testing was showing high inner tire temperatures as well as accelerated wear on the rear tires. We got the new pieces installed and SOS did an awesome in-house alignment. We got an extra degree of caster in the front while maintaining my desired negative camber and out back we got the toe just right and lowered the negative camber to -2.8. The car was great – confidence inspiring and glued down to the track. Couldn't have asked for a better outcome or an alignment with tighter specs, they chased it down to the thousandths.
Car has never been faster or more bulletproof. I look forward to my continued relationship with Chris and the guys at SOS. They are on the cutting edge of the S2000 world and I am truly lucky to have local access to their knowledge and experience. My car may not be of the same caliber that SOS creates in house, but they treated me like it was. Thumbs up SOS – I’ll be back for more go-fast soon!
Pics for clicks - cheers,
Matt
Worked with Science of Speed to address a couple of soft spots on the car right before we left. I had had a fuel starvation issue on my first day of testing at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. About 2/3s of the way through the bowl my engine sputtered to a halt. It was freaky and unexpected. I hated it. Once back on flat ground it fired back up and ran as anticipated, but it surly identified a problem that needed addressing.
Spoke with Chris over at SOS and he identified that their (much nicer) S2000s had also experienced fuel starvation. But they had a fix; an inline fuel swirl pot complete with internal pump. Sounded good, swung by the shop to take a look at the piece – what a beauty. I bought it straight away and had them install it. Worked like a charm and I've had no hiccups since. Nice piece at a reasonable price and it provided an extra level of security for those high G moments. I’d recommend it to anyone tracking an S2000; especially with oversized sticky tires.
As long as the car was in the shop I also had SOS help source and install a couple of adjustable upper ball joints. I couldn't dial out enough negative camber in the rear due to ride height and some suspension changes we had made. Testing was showing high inner tire temperatures as well as accelerated wear on the rear tires. We got the new pieces installed and SOS did an awesome in-house alignment. We got an extra degree of caster in the front while maintaining my desired negative camber and out back we got the toe just right and lowered the negative camber to -2.8. The car was great – confidence inspiring and glued down to the track. Couldn't have asked for a better outcome or an alignment with tighter specs, they chased it down to the thousandths.
Car has never been faster or more bulletproof. I look forward to my continued relationship with Chris and the guys at SOS. They are on the cutting edge of the S2000 world and I am truly lucky to have local access to their knowledge and experience. My car may not be of the same caliber that SOS creates in house, but they treated me like it was. Thumbs up SOS – I’ll be back for more go-fast soon!
Pics for clicks - cheers,
Matt
08-08-2014, 01:29 PM
#3
Sounds good. Left hand fuel starve is a very well known issue on these cars and a number of surge tank solutions are on the market. FBM was the first commercially available one with a similar design from SOS following later.
08-09-2014, 06:39 PM
#5
Hey, happy to help! It's one of the reasons I kept the CR for club racing. It helps to know the platform and know where the weak points of the vehicle are. Without a surge tank, you pretty much have to keep above 1/2 to 5/8th tank with Hoosiers. If you haven't done it, replace your brake lines if they haven't been replaced in the past 3 years.
08-13-2014, 01:25 PM
#6
Former Sponsor
Congratulations, awesome showing for a factory powered S2000! We're glad the surge tank cured your fuel starvation issues. More info:
http://scienceofspeed.com/products/e...el_surge_tank/
http://scienceofspeed.com/products/e...el_surge_tank/
08-14-2014, 08:11 AM
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Thanks SOS - it felt great
CKIT - nice, I didn't know about the brake line shelf life. I did redo all my brake lines to eliminate the booster and the ABS - but not to replace a hot spot. got lucky I guess
CKIT - nice, I didn't know about the brake line shelf life. I did redo all my brake lines to eliminate the booster and the ABS - but not to replace a hot spot. got lucky I guess
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08-14-2014, 01:45 PM
#8
Awesome write up. Car looks pretty flat in the corners, even with those grippy tires. What kind of spring rates and sway bars are you running ?
Also, does SOS have any plans to release a direct fit surge tank for 06+ models, without requiring a return fuel system conversion ? I'm also having a lot of fuel starve issues at one track in particular. Even with 30 liters in thank, it's still cutting out big time.
Also, does SOS have any plans to release a direct fit surge tank for 06+ models, without requiring a return fuel system conversion ? I'm also having a lot of fuel starve issues at one track in particular. Even with 30 liters in thank, it's still cutting out big time.
08-15-2014, 06:01 AM
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Hey thanks, it feels pretty good in the corners. For the sway bars I'm running a Tanabe 30.4mm in the front and whatever the magic Miata (front) bar is in the rear. For springs I'm on Swifts - 14k front and 12k rear.
With that said I'm making changes to everything but the rear sway bar. SOS is making a blade style front bar that I want to try and after looking at some suspension travel in pics I will move up a notch on springs and go 16k front 14k rear.
I know nothing of the fuel return question - hopefully SOS can chime in on that.
With that said I'm making changes to everything but the rear sway bar. SOS is making a blade style front bar that I want to try and after looking at some suspension travel in pics I will move up a notch on springs and go 16k front 14k rear.
I know nothing of the fuel return question - hopefully SOS can chime in on that.
10-20-2015, 04:48 PM
#10
Instead of making my own thread, I wanted to add my kudos to this fuel surge tank and echo whatset's posting...
My car seems to be a bastard car when it comes to fuel starve. Anything under 3/4 tank on track would lead to fuel starve on long left hands turns. Another lap later, I'd get it in the chicanes as well. I have many track friends that can go to almost empty before having a problem, but not me. I'm sure running E85 doesn't help me in this regard, but it is what it is. I recently moved up to some Hoosier R7's and pushed myself to install the SOS surge tank that I've had for a month or two because I knew that the fuel start would only get worse.
I ended up testing it out on one of our FunDay Sunday's that we have at our local track, which is the short course and $50 to run 4-5 hours. Previously, I would get about 12 minutes of track time and fuel starve. I would have to fill up to the top of the filler between every session to get any fun out of the car. After the surge tank, I ran 4 sessions starting with a full tank from the gas station (trailer'd the car) and I did get fuel starve at the end of the 4th session... But only because I was nearly empty and my gauge does not reflect it right away.
The quality is very good and I ended up going with a 190 lph pump as I didn't need any more than that. Since it removes all the EVAP stuff, I had 3 connectors going unused. I also have an AEM ECU, so I used the AEM to trigger the fuel pump on as a second pump via one of the EVAP 2-wire connectors and it worked perfectly. I already had a hard-wire kit that was unused, so this made it very easy for me. For the install, I removed the hard purge line running down the car and ran my power wire to the batter through it with some hose to keep it securely in the clips.
This past weekend, I put it to the test again with a NASA event competing in TTB. I filled the car again as well as 2-five gallon fuel tanks. I ended up using about 3 gallons just to keep some weight over the rear wheels after the 3rd session, but that's it. I ended up placing first in TTB in a full interior car that still has A/C, radio, etc (no spare though). It is nice not to have to refill every session nor get surprised going around a high speed sweeper when the power completely cuts and upsets the car.
My car seems to be a bastard car when it comes to fuel starve. Anything under 3/4 tank on track would lead to fuel starve on long left hands turns. Another lap later, I'd get it in the chicanes as well. I have many track friends that can go to almost empty before having a problem, but not me. I'm sure running E85 doesn't help me in this regard, but it is what it is. I recently moved up to some Hoosier R7's and pushed myself to install the SOS surge tank that I've had for a month or two because I knew that the fuel start would only get worse.
I ended up testing it out on one of our FunDay Sunday's that we have at our local track, which is the short course and $50 to run 4-5 hours. Previously, I would get about 12 minutes of track time and fuel starve. I would have to fill up to the top of the filler between every session to get any fun out of the car. After the surge tank, I ran 4 sessions starting with a full tank from the gas station (trailer'd the car) and I did get fuel starve at the end of the 4th session... But only because I was nearly empty and my gauge does not reflect it right away.
The quality is very good and I ended up going with a 190 lph pump as I didn't need any more than that. Since it removes all the EVAP stuff, I had 3 connectors going unused. I also have an AEM ECU, so I used the AEM to trigger the fuel pump on as a second pump via one of the EVAP 2-wire connectors and it worked perfectly. I already had a hard-wire kit that was unused, so this made it very easy for me. For the install, I removed the hard purge line running down the car and ran my power wire to the batter through it with some hose to keep it securely in the clips.
This past weekend, I put it to the test again with a NASA event competing in TTB. I filled the car again as well as 2-five gallon fuel tanks. I ended up using about 3 gallons just to keep some weight over the rear wheels after the 3rd session, but that's it. I ended up placing first in TTB in a full interior car that still has A/C, radio, etc (no spare though). It is nice not to have to refill every session nor get surprised going around a high speed sweeper when the power completely cuts and upsets the car.
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